FEARLESS FRIDAY
I'm really happy to have Julie Herman guesting today. It's not often I get to introduce you to a middle grade (ages 8-12) novel. This is an equestrian novel and that is exciting for me too. My favorite author was Dick Francis and his horsey mysteries. Julie has a story about what led to this book that's all about fearless kids. Read on and enjoy!
When my daughter was young, her first word was “pony.” She loved riding, no matter how much work was involved. Getting on the back of a horse was like flying, she said. It didn’t matter if she was having a canter around a ring or going over fences. (Although she loved fences MUCH more than she did plain old ring work!)
Through my girl-child, I got involved with the United States Pony Clubs. This is a great organization, a program similar to Scouting except we uses horses as our teaching medium. As part of my work, I get to travel all over the United States and be in the barns with our members while they compete. Our competitions are different from most horse shows — no parents in the barns! We don’t exactly turn them lose on their own, we have horse management judges there to keep an eye on things.
I can always tell the first-time competitors: they’re the ones escorting their parents out of the barn and then skipping back with their pigtails flying, happy for the freedom of being part of their team, being with their horse — and being responsible for themselves without anyone telling them what to do.
At our Pony Club Rallies, it’s not all smooth sailing, but smoother than many modern parents imagine it could be when you let children be in charge of themselves! I’ve had teams lock small teammates in their tackroom (ostensibly to keep them
clean, but I think it was just so they could find them — six-year-olds can disappear quickly!) had thirty competitors come crashing into the horse management judging office when the pinata I’d hung in the doorway spilled it’s contents onto the floor, and watched children who had kept themselves to a strict schedule, all while caring for themselves, their horse and their team.
So what’s a writer to do when faced with all this controlled choas? Write about it, of course! Thus BURNED was born.
Sophie wants nothing more than to spend all her time riding her beloved horse Cricket with her friends and their horses. Then the local tack shop burns down and her mother is accused of arson. Sophie must ride to the rescue or risk losing everything.
I have so enjoyed seeing the happy grins on children’s faces when they pick up the book and discover that a character shares their passion for horses. Their parents purchase the book, then they gallop off for some reading time. I often hear back later that they loved the fact that Sophie gets back up and gets back on the horse (both literally and figuratively) just the way they are taught when they take a tumble. (Although, as Sophie’s trainer, Queenie would say — don’t get back on if you bump your head, childhood concussions are serious business!)
So if you know a child (or adult) who loves horses and the freedom to fly across fields and fences that they bring, I’d love it if you introduce them to Sophie. They’ll have a lot in common.
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